A tale of three teams

If the Cleveland Browns are trying to create a feeling of goodwill and positive thinking with their employees and fans, they are going about it in a most curious way.
In the latest move, the team's director of public and media relations, Todd Stewart, was fired by new President and CEO John Collins.
This may not seem like breaking news to you, but it's a very strange way of doing business to me.
I've been witness to a large number of public relations people leaving professional teams and college programs. In many cases, it's a voluntary action -- usually, the person is moving on to a similar job with more responsibility.
But this is the first time I can remember a franchise admitting it was firing a P.R. person. Even when it was obvious that was the move being made, the company allowed the ex-employee to say he or she was resigning.
Stewart became the fourth front office employee to leave since former President and CEO Carmen Policy suddenly resigned in the off-season. All of them were brought in by Policy and so the inference could be made that they were loyal to him.
There's also speculation that coach Butch Davis has been behind the moves; some considered Policy's resignation the result of a power play between him and Davis.
Still, it's a bit curious that the franchise's spokesperson would be terminated. Collins, who got his start in the NFL working for NFL Films, said he wants the franchise to produce its own show for this season. Perhaps Stewart didn't have the necessary experience needed to aid in such a production.
It's certainly the right of any corporation to hire and fire the employees as it wishes. But usually, a high-profile corporation, like a sports franchise, does so behind closed doors.
Cavs
Then there are the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose owner, Gordon Gund, and general manager, Jim Paxson, seem to have the Midas touch these days.
In the wake of the fiasco surrounding Carlos Boozer's contract, the Cavs' front office was all but exonerated by the fans. Even when Gund went public and shouldered the blame, he was given a free pass.
And give Paxson credit; he certainly didn't wait for the ink to dry on Boozer's new contract with the Utah Jazz. This week he made a couple of nice deals, first getting backup point guard and Canton native Eric Snow from the Philadelphia 76ers. Then Friday, he acquired three players from the Orlando Magic, including Drew Gooden.
As part of the deal, Paxson also received 7-foot center Steven Hunter, presumably as a safeguard in case the rumored move of Zydrunas Ilgauskas would happen to be realized.
The only downside to the deal, in my opinion, was the loss of Tony Battie, a capable backup who also made the Cavaliers better following his acquisition in mid-season.
But, as the saying goes, you have to give up quality to get quality.
And Gooden, who averaged double figures while playing mostly in a reserve role for Orlando -- he started just 17 of the 79 games in which he appeared -- still had 18 games in which he finished with double figures in both points and rebounds.
If Paxson can keep the Cavaliers' big three -- McInnis, Ilgauskas and LeBron James -- together as the core of the club, having Gooden in the lineup may not be as good as Boozer, but it's not bad.
Indians
Finally, the stumbling and sometimes bumbling Tribe found out earlier this week that, while they have played better than most experts predicted, the Chicago White Sox exposed them as pretenders, rather than contenders.
Of course, injuries, protracted slumps and just plain bad luck could keep the White Sox (or Twins) from gradually pulling away in the A.L. Central over the last two months of the season, but our guess is those back-to-back shutout losses Wednesday and Thursday were a good indication that the Indians are probably one year -- not to mention, one starting pitcher and a healthy, dependable closer -- away from seriously competing for a division title.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.